Cartomancy Corner

20 March 2016

My cards are possessed

You cannot tell me there is not something “conscious” at work with cards.A week or so ago I was shuffling the Balbi while contemplating out loud what deck I intended to take away with me in May. No sooner had the words “I think I’ll take the RWS” left my lips when the 4 of Swords literally flew out *at* me. In this system it represents ‘a declared evil’. Balbi was clearly not impressed that I had just declared my evil intention to leave him at home! So when, for #WithinWithoutAdvice, I asked if I should continue to work with only the Balbi for a while I wasn’t surprised to see the 4S again, occupying the Without position. My betrayal has not been forgotten.

Within: I’d made a written commitment (letter, decree) to work with only the Tarot Balbi. I did say for just two weeks but the concept of time seems to be lost on Balbi, at least on this occasion.
Advice: ‘Shared love’. Looks like I’m expected to be faithful a while longer.☺

16 March 2016

What a team

Tarot Balbi, using Eudes Picard's* meanings: A collaboration will give birth to a woman who earns her money in an unusual way.

Backstory:

1) Taliesin McKnight recently posted a video about Sigil Magick and encouraged viewers to give it a try. I thought "Why not?", so I scratched around for something to manifest and decided on "It is my will to make money reading cards." New decks don’t pay for themselves.

3) I'm taking part in the #WithinWithoutAdvice Tarot challenge on Instagram and decided to pull three cards asking Daisy if she had anything she wanted to tell me.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

*Using only this deck for a few weeks has been very useful, as it’s drawn to my attention that Balbi (or whoever actually wrote the LWB) redefined a fair number of the cards while staying somewhat true to Picard’s images, which has led to some weird visual mismatches.

So having translated almost all the Spanish, I find I now have to translate all the French. But when I'm done I intend to share my findings here. So if you're at all interested in the Tarot Balbi, watch this space.

Side note: Yes, I do have a candle labelled "Spirit Team" - what of it? LOL! I burn it for a short time every morning to "check in". And the crystal is the one I've charged to aid me in connecting with them.

14 March 2016

...She loves me

Apart from my grandmother, I'm vaguely aware of a few more guides. If I meditated, or at least focused more often, I'd probably be more than "vaguely" aware of them. So I thought I'd take advantage of the free lesson.

The module includes a guided meditation to connect you with one of your guides. At one point during the meditation you sit in your "garden" and wait for the guide to come to you. I wanted to keep my mind clear of expectations, so I focused on the grass and ran my hand over it. Immediately I spotted a tiny daisy flower...

gettyimages

I hadn't thought of my guide Daisy literally in months. You could say I'd completely forgotten about her [my bad]. But there she was, no hard feelings. I was honestly shocked. Part of me knows there are spirit guides, I've seen so much evidence of it. But part of me can still be caught by surprise when it happens so matter-of-factly.

I know I can't force it but I'm going to try and check in with Daisy more often, and I hope she'll work with me for a while.

If you'd like to have a go at meeting one, or more, of your guides, I can obviously recommend Ethony's meditation. Or check out the many available on YouTube. They'd love to say "Hi".

I use my grandmother's, Oma’s, playing card method and
she sometimes “drops in” as the Queen of Spades. So imagine how delighted I was
when she appeared in this spread in such a familiar and unambiguous way. And
notice the zodiac sign on her chest? No prizes for guessing what sign Oma was.

My ancestors are always Within.

The Balbi '8 of Coins' speaks of legacies, and the fair
distribution of property or inheritance, as well as perseverance. Value my
inheritance and continue to share it Without.

The Hanged Man confronts the various possibilities between
the past and the future. It is the balance of power between necessity and
freedom, between that which is an essential part of us from our past and that
which we make for ourselves in the future. I’m Advised to acknowledge that
balance.

Reading Resources

A terrifically flexible spread generator
(click on Sun)
created by Tarot and card reader Bertrand Saint Guillain, featuring his Palimpsest Lenormand, Nicolas Conver 1860 Tarot and Triomphes de Paris
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And over at The Deceptionary you'll find a selection of
3-card reading generators
- using the Universal Tarot, Marseille (trumps only), playing cards, Psycards, Zener symbols, geomantic symbols and runes. You'll be given the description of a "querent", their area of concern, and three cards or symbols to interpret for them.